Novel References

"The curvature of a planetary body limits the effectiveness of fixed
emplacements with line-of-sight weapons. Destruction of only a few such
emplacements creates a breach in the planetary defenses, and a corridor
from space to the surface. The threat at this point would be from
atmospheric fighters or ground-to-air missiles launched from over the horizon."

Specific remarks about the tactics of planetary invasions.

19

"...the Dornean Navy successfully defended Dornea's independence throughout
the reign of Palpatine, against Imperial forces several times as large,"
said Princess Leia...

An unusual planet that possessed enough concentrated force to deter
whatever local Imperial forces were available.
This may be a hint of the tactical advantages of defenders,
and/or the remoteness vs desirability of suppressing Dornea.
It may be another hint of the reasons why the Emperor desired a Death Star
to bolster his rule.

20

"You must understand that the problems of invading a planetary body from
space, or defending one from an invasion, are quite different from the
problems of destroying a planet, or blockading one, or laying siege to one."

21

"Senator, it is not possible to assault a planet which enjoys the
protection of a planetary shield until that shield has been disabled."

Basic tenet of warfare in a galactic civilisation.

44

"...remember that Admiral Daala is still alive, and has the resources of
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Core worlds to draw upon. She can only
grow stronger as time passes, and may well have spies in Imperial City."

continuity: Note that this story takes place after
Planet of Twilight,
in which Daala's circumstances were very different to the way Admiral Ackbar
describes her here.
Has there been a reversal of her fortunes,
or has Daala's fate been concealed from the Mon Calamari
and the galaxy at large?

67

"When I first met Yoda, he had been a hermit on Dagobah for a
hundred years or more."

continuity: Luke Skywalker assumes that Yoda has been stranded on Dagobah
for a long time, however as of the end of The Phantom Menace
Yoda was happily commuting across the galaxy
and serving on the Jedi Council on Coruscant.
This suggests that Luke has not learned much about the circumstances
of the Jedi before his father's career.

84

'Almost everything we know about the Koornacht Cluster is thirty years
old. It was in Imperial hands from the time of the Clone Wars until
shortly after the Battle of Endor.'

124

'It's the I-class Star Destroyer Gnisnal, our registry number SD-489.
Reported destroyed by internal explosions during the Imperial evacuation of
Narth and Ihopek.
The report is from Alliance sources.'

The Gnisnal is a star destroyer with a rather small registry number.
Considering that there must have been at least tens of thousands of
destroyers galaxywide, this small numbe rmay indicate that Gnisnal
was a particularly old ship, or distinguished in some other way.
"I-class" probably is colloquial for Imperator-class,
which is sometimes also called
"Imperial-class" in New Republic slang.

132

And he knew the entire history of the Asset Tracking office, it had never
before had available to it what he had now before him: a complete Imperial
order of battle.
It was all there: Every warship, by name, class, callsign, and commander,
assigned to every fleet and combat command.
Every fighter, interceptor, bomber, and assualt squadron posted to every SD,
SSD, carrier, and Dreadnaught, with squadron strengths detailed.
Every stormtrooper company and infantry battalion assigned to every transport,
occupation force, outpost, and fort.
Every cripple in drydock and every keel in shipyard, with projected repair and
completion dates.
Even the second-tier vessels allocated to training commands were included.
The datastamp on the file was more than ten years old, but it was still a
treasure beyond price.
The order of battle encompassed information far beyond that which ordinary
ship captains and task force commanders would have at their disposal,
information that only a ranking sector commander or the Emperor's own
military aides would possess.

Complete Imperial order of battle obtained by the New Republic for the first
time, from the wreckage of the star destroyer Gnisnal.

'...the order of battle for Black Sword includes forty-four capital ships
which we have not seen nor heard of since the fall of the Emperor.
None smaller than a Victory-class Star Destroyer.
Three are Super-class vessels.

139

'The Empire preferred to establish military shipyards in every sector they
controlled, so that no one facility was critical to the war effort, and
damaged ships did not need to travel far for repairs--'

Major shipyards capable of repairing, and possibly manufacturing,
Imperial warships were available in all or most sectors.
Reducing or eliminating this capacity would be a major activity for the
rising New Republic as it consolidated its hold on the galaxy.

143

"The Empire's standard Sector Group strength was only twenty-four Star
Destroyers. They were able to exercise control over an entire system with
a single Imperial-class ship. They were able to overwhelm anything up to a
Class Four planetary defense with one-third of a Sector Group."

General Etahn A'baht explains the deployment of ships
in the starfleet assigned to a minimal sector.

143

"...there are more than two hundred inhabited worlds in Hatawa and Farlax,
many of which we still know little about."

Admiral Ackbar remarks on the scope of two sectors on the fringes of
the Deep Core.

183

"[Admiral] Hiram [Drayson] and Alpha Blue work within Fleet Intelligence,
and beyond its reach. They have a charter which recognizes the ambiguities
of war and politics, and inherit the jobs which require working outside the
rules of polite society."

Admiral Ackbar describes a super-secret sub-division of his naval intelligence
service,
as distinct from the more general and public intelligence agencies
of the New Republic government headed by General Cracken.

If a "klick" is interpreted as slang for "kilometre"
then this indicates a lower limit of 40km for the altitude of the
planetary shield.
This means that the shield is probably outside even the most tenuous parts
of the planetary atmosphere,
which is a prudent level of protection.

263

Aitro Koornacht had done a favour involving a woman and an Imperial coach
for the First Observer at the Court of Emperor Preedu III, on Tamban. That
next night, the astronomer spotted a bright, fuzzy disk in the eyepiece of
his newest telescope. That grateful First Observer had repaid his
benefactor by naming the newly discovered star cluster after the night
commander of the palace guard.

culutre: History of the naming of the Koornacht cluster.

locations: Tamban, a civilised system with a line of sight to
the Koornacht cluster, unobscured by interstellar dust.
Therefore it probably lies within the Core or the fringes of the Deep Core
regions.

283

He cleared his throat, and uglier sound than his rasping breaths. 'My
name is Plat Mallar,' he said. 'I was born in the city of Three North, on
the planet Polneye. My mother was Fall Topas. She was a plant biologist,
and quite beautiful. My father was Plat Hovath, a droid mechanic. I was
their only son. We lived in Ten South, on blue level, near the algae
pool.'

character: Plat Mallar

culture: Grannan naming conventions place the surname before the personal name.

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